Ron Barth is almost apologetic when he uses the term Murphy bed to describe the Clei multifunctional wall beds his company imports from Italy. “The name Murphy bed has this connotation in the public’s mind of being something that is clunky and uncomfortable,” said Barth, co-owner of Resource Furniture, headquartered in New York.

With nearly 40 years of experience in graphic arts, publishing and industrial printing, Gilboa has a comprehensive view of the state of digital printing technology for decorative surfaces- where it is, how it arrived and where it is
going.

Ingvar Kamprad, the visionary founder of IKEA, died in January at age 91. While many of us connect Kamprad to the iconic IKEA brand, few of us know that he also was instrumental in transforming the housing industry. Kamprad, along with the international construction firm Skanska, created a new way of producing living spaces for the masses.

When Sport Chek, Canada’s largest sports retailer, expanded and redesigned its flagship store at the Yorkdale Shopping Center in Toronto, it created a shopping experience exemplifying what is necessary to thrive in today’s retail economy.

The brick-and-mortar store is a critical component of the omnichannel experience expected by tech-savvy consumers. It uses best-in-class technological features to seamlessly blend in-store and digital shopping, creating an “endless aisle approach.”

In the evolving world of retail, savvy businesses know it’s not just one or the other that boosts their bottom lines.

Instead, those retailers are using bricks and mortar and online shopping in tandem, often employing experiential retail as a powerful way to provide consumers with personal, engaging experiences.

Often referred to as experiential retail, shopping, buying or purchasing, it’s a concept that typically involves a store in which consumers do more than buy. Through a store’s engaging and interactive design, often including panel-based fixtures and casegoods, customers experience a brand or product and therefore create a memory that fosters a strong relationship with the retailer.

When your title is “chief disruptor,” you aren’t intimidated by technologies that are permanently changing the way we conceive, design, manufacture and sell products. Instead, you embrace those technologies and see opportunities where others see threats.

Tom Wujec is chief disruptor at Autodesk—the Oscar-winning industry leader in 3D computer animation technology and one of the world’s largest software companies—and he revels in sharing today’s exciting opportunities during his celebrated talks on innovation.

The volunteer fire department in Moffat, Texas, just outside of Temple has 20 spiffy new lockers and a renewed sense of pride, thanks to the community spirit and generosity of Maco Manufacturing and Wilsonart Engineered Surfaces. The lockers are made of attractive and durable thermally fused laminate (TFL) and utilize coordinated edgebanding.